Taking the World From Atlas
by FrankandJoe3
Summary: Dick just wants to be normal for one day. Birdflash.
1. Chapter 1

**_Every night, I tell myself to just keep dreaming._ To Ana. **

**Second chapter soon to follow if not already posted.**

* * *

Silence strung itself about the cave like poorly hung Christmas lights in mid-July. It seemed out of place and out of season, nearly haunting, and it was absent in some parts, but none of the occupants had the energy needed to take it down. That would mean addressing what had happened, and acknowledging it would make it real.

What no one was going to admit was that they had gotten someone killed on their last mission. It had been just one person, and they had saved so many more, but that one body was someone with a family and a life, and truth be told, their real thought was that it could've been one of them. No one said that, of course, but no one had said anything since they got back to Mount Justice.

Once inside, everyone had handled their guilt separately.

Conner had bandaged the cut on his forearm and collapsed on the couch in the living room. He had found the remote and turned the TV to a station with nothing but static, muting the roar and just watching the snowy effect on the large screen.

Megan had hopped up on the counter, turning her back to him, and with eyes glazing white, ingredients flew around the kitchen without her raising a hand. Spoons followed the eggs and milk around the area and she just stared forward with only a slight furrow in her brow.

Kaldur had turned on two of the shower faucets in the locker room and laid out across the tile, his gills fanning greedily as he seemingly tried to drown himself beneath the thick streams.

Artemis had been in the gym for the longest time, going at the punching bag with an unnamed vengeance, but she had wandered back to her room after Dick had sauntered in. She had found a nice pair of headphones and was blaring what music she had on her phone as loud as she could get it, staring emptily up at the ceiling.

Dick had made his way into the gym to work out at first, but once he had gotten to the top of the high beams, he simply kept climbing until he was seated up in the comfort of the height the rafters provided. Once he was situated, he took out his phone and turned on the swing music he often played when he was upset. It was quiet, but it knocked the Christmas lights down on his half of the cave, and those who could hear it knew how serious their predicament really was.

Wally had been pacing for the most part, trying to jog his mind onto a path with new thoughts, but once he heard the swing music he was done with sulking. He left his room, contemplating taking the silence, but he left it where it hung and followed the music into the gym, looking around for his friend.

It admittedly took him a while to find the bird nestled up high, but when he did, he put his hands on his hips and stared up at him for a moment.

Dick had one leg curled up under him, the other swinging loosely in the air, and he was staring even higher as who Wally thought to be Frank Sinatra crooned through the phone speakers. Admittedly, he didn't know very many swing artists, or if Frank Sinatra was even swing, but it didn't matter now.

"Rob," Wally tried to call, but he got caught on the Christmas lights and had to collect himself for a moment before trying again, louder.

Dick tensed for a moment, but when he recognized his caller, he relaxed and folded his arms over his lap and looked down at his friend. He didn't offer anything verbal in return, but he waved his fingers kindly.

"We're going out," Wally called up.

The teen hesitated on the board, as though he hadn't heard, but Frank wasn't singing very loudly about his paper moons, so he obviously heard well enough.

"Now?" Dick asked, after a moment.

Wally shrugged. "Yeah, now. Unless I'm interrupting your sulking."

Dick chewed on his lip and stared up at the ceiling, thinking on it. A small conversation later, or maybe just some inner contemplation, he paused the music and scaled his way back down to the ground.

"Anywhere specific in mind?" he asked as he slipped his phone in his pocket.

"Out," Wally offered, and it was enough.

Without further disrupting the Christmas lights, they ducked their way out of the cave through a natural exit in the rocks, and made their way down the mountain side until they reached a path worn into the rocks. A look to each other and they took it without a word, and they let the crunching of rock beneath their sneakers serve as conversation for the better part of their trek as they made their way down off of the mountain.

Every so often, Dick would glare distastefully up into the branches of the surrounding trees, and sometimes he seemed as though he were going to say something, and sometimes he would look as though he were going to lash out at something Wally couldn't see, but he never did. He would glare, and then he would look to Wally, and then he would stare back to the path. It kept on like a cycle for a good part of their walk, up until they were a little over halfway down the mountain. Only then did Wally feel it was safe to talk, or at least to see what was going on with his friend.

"You doing all right?" he tested the waters.

Dick stopped in place, apparently just now realizing he had gotten ahead of his walking partner, and turned to look at him. He raised an eyebrow.

"Do I look _not_ all right?" he asked, maybe a little testily.

"You never look all right. It's part of your bad boy charm," Wally shrugged, and laughed at the face his friend made in response. "C'mon, dude. You were playing _swing_ music. You only do that when you're not all right."

The dark-haired teen jammed his hands into his jean pockets and shrugged, looking back up into the trees. He stiffened again, like he had done the past few times, only this time he didn't seem as able to stomach whatever it was he saw up in the branches.

"What do you keep looking at?" Wally started to ask, voice jumping in pitch as his friend suddenly chucked a rock up into branches with a shout.

"Maybe I'd be all right if there weren't cameras _everywhere_ on this mountain!" Dick yelled up at the tree.

For a moment, Wally questioned his friend's sanity, but a red beam quickly shot down out of the branches and scanned the young hero's face. The computerized voice that they had become familiar with from their use of the ZETA teleports identified him as Robin and politely recommended that he not harm Justice League technology.

"Scan this!" Dick yelled again, proceeding to flip the camera off.

The red beam came down again, but it ignored the crude gesture and scanned his face again, repeating the same message from before. It drew a frustrated shout from the young hero, and he rolled his eyes, flipping it off again before gesturing for Wally to follow him farther down the path. The speedster did all he could think of to not laugh.

"How'd you know there were cameras?" he asked, biting the inside of his cheek to try and lessen his grin. "I _still_ don't see any."

Dick stuffed his hands back into his pockets with a little huff and shook his head.

"Got 'em all over the house," he bit out, obviously a little jaded.

Wally thought he knew his friend pretty well- or at least enough to know that he didn't just blow up at nothing. A few cameras weren't the source of this anger. Cameras were littered all over the cave, and if they were at Wayne Manor, the Dick Grayson in the contact list on his phone never seemed too bothered by them. He knew what was really digging at his friend's skin. It was the same thing digging at his, and the rest of the team. Knowing his friend as well as he did, though, he knew he wouldn't just get a solid answer about feelings out of him like this.

Without so much of a second thought, he threw the acrobat over his shoulder and ran the rest of the way down the mountain, hugging the skinny thighs to prevent the small teen from taking off like a kite. As soon as Dick realized he was being hauled off, he was quick to wrap his arms around the speedster's middle and cling for dear life. It took a whole of fifteen seconds to get the rest of the way down the mountain to the beach, and even then Wally ran a bit farther until they were headed off towards the city. Only then did he let Dick down, and he held onto his shoulders until his balance had caught back up to him. When the young sidekick was standing steady, the two of them started walking together towards the city.

"No cameras this far out," Wally assured his friend, a little surprised that he hadn't been punched for the sudden grab. "Can we talk now?"

Dick seemed a lot more at ease now, walking with his arms swinging idly at his sides and staring off towards the city or up at the redhead. The run seemed to have shaken him out of his funk, at least according to Wally's reasoning. He even seemed to consider the question this run around.

"I'm... fine, Walls," he said, a little less sure than he should've been. "Really. I just..."

He trailed off and didn't make much of an effort to pick up the tail end. Wally jogged after it and gave it a tug.

"You just...?" he pressed, nudging his friend lightly.

Dick looked up at him over his shades, his blue eyes suddenly clouding over with doubt, and Wally recognized the walls that were being put back up. He knew those walls all too well, and the effort needed to knock them down.

"Forget it," the acrobat shrugged.

"No, no, come on," Wally said hurriedly, grabbing his friend's arm. "What is it?"

Dick stared at the freckled hand on his arm before pulling himself free, shaking his arm out. He looked away from the both of them and stared down at the sand to their left.

"It's dumb," he excused it.

" _I'm_ dumb," Wally offered as a rebuttal.

Blue eyes met his again and Dick laughed a genuine little laugh. He shook his head and grinned down at his feet.

"Not going to argue with that," he murmured before lifting his head again, grin simmered down to a half-cocked position.

His grin might have lowered, but the walls hadn't, and Wally knew that no amount of teasing or jokes could make a mark on it. After brief pondering, he decided that the only way to lower them was to lower his own.

"All right. I'll go first then," Wally said before he could stop himself. "I'm not okay."

Dick looked over at him very quickly, the surprise a sharp contrast against the blue in his eyes. He had obviously been caught off-guard. Nobody expected the goofball to say anything without a punchline. That was a punchline in itself, only it was the kind that hurt a little. It merited the "I have feelings, too!" response, and no one likes being a cliché.

"We got a guy killed today, Dick. I mean, _we_ didn't do it, but we didn't stop it, either," he went on, and he found himself rubbing anxiously at his neck. "I didn't know him, and you didn't- well, probably- but he died because of us. That's on _our_ hands. _My_ hands."

He could see Dick reach for him in his peripheral, but he side-stepped it. No one ever asked if _he_ was okay. It was about time that he was asked, even if he was the one who had asked himself in the first place. It felt good to get to answer after all this time.

"If I had been a little faster, I could've knocked him out of the way. If I had been _slower_ , it could've been me. It could've been you," he paused at the thought, and he found that he couldn't look over at his friend- only tighten his brow. "It could've been Bruce going through your closet to find the suit to bury you in, arguing with the guy at the cemetery on the phone to make sure you were buried next to your parents. Him and Alfred trying to pick out the right color casket to put you in. What they were going to say in your eulogies. What _I_ would say in your eulogies. My best friend, the one I got killed... what _would_ I say?"

Wally stopped walking at that point and bit hard into his lip, staring hard off into the silhouette of the buildings up ahead. His eyes misted at the thought and he saw it all, all the way to the casket lowering down into the earth with all of their tears and flowers on top. He coughed lightly into his hand once he caught himself and blinked it off, continuing to walk with a little huff.

"We got lucky, but he didn't," he managed, and then he looked down at an utterly speechless Dick, "and I'm not okay."

They held eye contact, the green watery and the blue shell-shocked, and then Wally found himself wrapping an arm around his friend's shoulders, maybe a little tighter than he meant to. He swallowed hard, biting at his lip again.

"So... whatever you have to say... isn't that dumb."

Dick grabbed Wally's wrist and for a moment, the redhead assumed he would be thrown off, but the acrobat instead squeezed comfortingly and rubbed the inside of his friend's hand with his thumb. The redhead closed his eyes with a sore smile and took a deep breath. It felt good to get that off of his chest, admittedly.

They continued walking, Wally's arm still slung around his friend and his friend's hand latched onto his wrist. After a moment, Dick leaned in towards him, and let his head rest against the redhead's chest. It was almost too perfect.

"I was just thinking... I mean... we're _kids_ , Walls," Dick finally said, hesitantly.

"I prefer to think we're 'strapping young gentlemen'," Wally interjected lightly.

Dick rolled his eyes with a breathy laugh that Wally could feel vibrate against his chest. The acrobat leaned off of the speedster after that, but he stayed close all the same.

"You know what I mean, though. Like... when did you get into this hero business?"

Wally thought for a moment that he could see what was beyond the walls, and he tried to not seem as excited as he was about his friend slowly starting to open up. The thumb on the inside of his hand slowed, but it still felt just as nice.

"You mean you're not obsessed with my life?" he feigned hurt, but he dropped it with a little laugh, and stopped to think. "Ah... I'm not sure, really. A few months after the accident, at least. I was maybe... thirteen? Fourteen?"

The thumb pressed a little harder unintentionally.

"So you won't completely get it, but... I started when I was nine. I mean, I was... I was a kid. I _am_ a kid," Dick got quiet for a moment, and he let go of Wally's wrist.

"Try me," Wally encouraged.

He took his arm away and stuffed his hands into his pockets, as he was unsure of what else to do with them at this point. Dick had gone quiet again, but this time it seemed to be that he was thinking, and not that he was diverting the subject.

"When I decided to become... Robin... I signed over any chance of a normal childhood... of a normal life. I traded my blocks for bullets, I guess," he continued, and Wally nodded slowly. "I gave up my normal life so everyone else could have one. I just... wish... someone could do the same for me."

Wally stared at him and blinked slowly, processing what he had been told. "Let me get this straight. You want to be... 'normal'?"

"I- it's not like I want to stop being a hero- not yet, at least... but I just want... a day... where everything's..." he gave a weak shrug, "normal. A day where I'm... the average guy, and not some kid nursing broken ribs. I'm sick of playing Atlas, Wally. I can't keep the whole world up for long."

Putting an arm around Dick again, Wally managed to stop the both of them on the very outskirts of the city. He studied his friend's face, trying to draw more out of his features, and then he looked over everything he had been offered. He thought, and then he nodded.

"I understand, I think," he said after a moment. "Want to go for pizza?"

Dick seemed a little disheartened at first, but he brightened up fairly quickly and returned the nod. They walked the rest of the way into town looking for a pizza place, looking like two average guys, but feeling like two Atlases.

* * *

 **-F.J. III**


	2. Chapter 2

_**No, I don't remember us falling in love. That sort of thing is old-fashioned. I know this- I know... I don't know.**_

* * *

When the two had returned to Mount Justice that night, they had found that the others hadn't much moved since they had left them, and the silence hadn't been disturbed. It was heavier than they had remembered, and it had been enough to discourage them from bothering in the first place, so they silently bid each other fond goodbyes before heading back home.

It had been fairly late when they had left, and Dick hadn't been surprised to find that Bruce wasn't home. He rarely was these days. It was always a business trip or some important venture for the company. It used to make him angry, but he had grown used to it, and he went to bed after exchanging good-nights with Alfred.

His bruised ribs from the last mission made it difficult to get comfortable, but he managed to drift off eventually, and he fell into another of the many dreamless rests that had haunted him for the past few weeks.

It was interrupted suddenly when a sharp knock on the window shot him up in bed. He winced once it caught up with his ribs, but he quickly sought out the source of the sound, eyes narrowing when he saw a silhouette against his window.

Before he could even begin to wonder where he had put his bat, the silhouette cupped their hands against the window glass and spoke clearly.

"Dick, hey, it's me," he recognized Wally's voice. "Let me in."

Dick stared incredulously at his friend outside, very nearly considering locking him out, but he climbed out of bed against his better judgment and lifted the pane enough to help him inside. Once he was in, the acrobat started to close the window again, but Wally grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"What are you doing, dude? C'mon, get dressed!"

Holding his friend's eyes, Dick blinked slowly, as though he thought he was actually dreaming, and then he forcefully shut the window. He shook his head, both as a way to say no and to say that he couldn't quite believe what he was hearing.

"Right now? It's..." he sleepily glanced around the room until he found his alarm clock, "four in the morning."

When he looked back, Wally's expression hadn't changed in the slightest. He didn't seem deterred by the time in the slightest, and he even offered a little shrug before crossing over to the closet. The redhead fumbled for the switch and they both flinched at the light that filled the room before he started looking through his friend's clothes. He pulled one suit jacket out enough to look at it with an impressed little smirk, and Dick ran over and took it out of his hands.

"How'd you get past the gates?" he asked, pushing Wally away from his closet and hanging the jacket back up. "That's Wayne Tech securities- more secure than the Bat Cave."

The speedster crossed over to the bed and sat on the edge of it, leaning over his thighs and resting his forearms on his knees.

"Don't worry about that now," he waved it off, lifting his hand to his eyes as Dick shut the closet light off. "Put on a hoodie and jeans or something. My car's parked out front."

Dick shut the closet doors and made his way over to the window, looking back at his friend doubtfully, but he thought he could see something parked outside of the gates. With a huff of disbelief, he pulled down the shades.

"You can drive?" he asked the room's new darkness.

"Like I said, don't worry about it."

From memory, the acrobat made his way across the room and climbed back into bed, accidentally hitting the redhead with his knee as he did. He slipped underneath the covers and turned onto his side, nestling his cheek into his pillow.

"I'm not going to worry about it," he assured the teen at the foot of his bed, "just like I'm not leaving the house at four in the morning. I'll leave at a regular human time if I'm leaving at all."

Wally gave an annoyed little sigh, and Dick could very nearly see the pout his friend was pulling, even with his eyes closed in the dark. "What am I supposed to do until then?"

Without a word, the acrobat flung an arm out and patted the pillow beside his own. It took a bit of patting, but eventually he heard the other give in, and he pulled his arm back over himself in time for Wally to slide under the covers next to him.

"A regular human time, then," Wally seemed to agree, and in no time at all, they both had fallen asleep.

'A regular human time' ended up being nine, and it was Dick who rolled out of bed first. He was careful not to disturb his friend, and he used the light on his phone rather than the closet light to pick out some jeans and a red hoodie. He got ready in near-perfect silence, brushing his teeth and gelling back his hair.

Before he woke Wally up, his fingers grazed the side of a pair of his sunglasses, but he wasn't afraid of being himself around his best friend, so he abandoned them and instead let his fingers graze over Wally's shoulders.

It didn't take much to rouse the redhead. Shaking him gently a few times and softly murmuring his name was enough to draw a confused murmur from his lips and eventually open his eyes. When they recognized Dick, a spark lit in them and the fondness in his gaze was very nearly overwhelming. He blinked it off as he sat up, but Dick couldn't quite forget it.

"Time to go?" Wally asked hopefully, rubbing his eyes with a tiny yawn.

The two were on their way downstairs in seconds, and they both bid a very confused Alfred goodbye before taking up the driveway and eventually climbing into Wally's car. It started up on the first try, much to Dick's surprise- which got him a light punch to the arm for saying- and then they were off down the road.

"Almost forgot to ask," Dick realized, toying with his seat belt. "What's all this about? Are we celebrating something?"

He lifted his head when Wally didn't respond and very nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw that Wally had taken both hands off of the wheel to go through something on his phone, letting his knees to pilot them. Dick immediately ripped his phone out of his hands, and had the windows not been locked, he would've considered chucking it out.

"Dude!" Wally grabbed for it again, putting one hand back on the wheel. "What are you, my mom?"

"I'm precious cargo," Dick defended, holding the phone just out of his friend's reach.

He managed a glance at what had been so important that Wally felt he could ignore the road and found himself with a little laugh as he realized he had looked up the GPS coordinates for an IHOP. Tucking the phone safely into one of the two cup holders between them, Dick bat back the freckled hand with a warm smile.

"There aren't many restaurants that won't question you coming in at 3AM with pretty recent injuries, Walls. I can get us there," he assured the redhead, and it seemed to be enough. "But seriously, what's the occasion?"

"Well, yesterday you mentioned that you wanted a normal day," Wally said with a little smile, both hands on the wheel again, "so I'm giving you one."

He took one hand off of the wheel to turn on the radio, and he found a generic pop station that was playing some recycled garbage about drinking and women with certain proportions. When he glanced up at the acrobat, he found him with some dumbstruck little grin that he knew he'd deny later. Sure enough, as soon as Wally noticed it, it was traded for a little smirk.

"So that's why you tried sneaking me out at four in the morning?" Dick challenged, resting his elbow in the window sill and propping his head on his hand. "So I could be normal?"

"That _is_ normal," Wally insisted, "for non-supers, at least. Our excitement is bullet holes and near-death experiences. They disobey their parents."

"I don't have parents to disobey anymore."

"There we go! Channel that teenage angst, Dick. You're on your way."

They walked into IHOP fifteen minutes later, humming the song about all of the types of women that go crazy, and ordered a booth away from the windows. On the ride over, they had promised that they were going to be normal even to the point of conversation, so as they challenged the 'endless pancakes' offer, they talked about school, and games, and parents, and anything that wasn't related to Dick's bruised ribs and the reason for Wally's knee brace.

'Endless' ended up being two hours worth, but Wally assured his friend that he had a whole day planned for them, and that being shorted a few pancakes wasn't going to ruin anything.

They ended up making an unscheduled stop at Starbucks for the 50% off of all iced coffees offer, and instead of going on to their next destination, they turned the radio up and laid on the hood of Wally's car in the parking lot. Very nearly shoulder-to-shoulder as they made fun of the music and drank their 'white girl beverages', it wasn't unusual for Dick to duck his head onto Wally's shoulder when he laughed, or for their feet to knock against each other in what _totally_ wasn't a game of footsie.

When their drinks had been drained, they threw them away and hopped in the car again. They drove aimlessly for a while, making fun of people in their cars and just laughing at the world. The wandering turned out to be Wally getting lost in the streets of Gotham, but they found their way to one of the city's biggest playgrounds after some time, and after Dick ran out of quips, they got out of the car and raced each other to reach it first.

They played volleyball in the sand court until the kids who they had stolen their ball from brought their parents over. Laughing, they exchanged the sand court for the swing set, and snagged two of the less secure swings on the end. Idle races to see who could get the highest evolved into trick competitions which Dick easily won, securing his championship with a triple somersault landed flat-footed with two middle-fingers offered towards his friend.

Having attracted the attention of several elementary aged students, they quickly broke into a twenty swing stretch of Highway Crossing in which Wally very obviously cheated. He wove between the swingers faster than any normal human should've been able to, and instead of switching out with him at the end, Dick tackled him to the sand and called him out on it in a hushed whisper. They both would deny blushing as they got back to their feet and wove through the swingers once more.

A couple more runs and several four foot friends later, the two made their way over to the jungle gym area, and Dick made himself at home on the monkey bars. He was able to go across them, albeit gingerly because of his ribs, feet dangling above the ground, and was eventually hanging himself upside down over the edge and looking like he was on the start of a sugar rush. When Wally tried to make his way across it, his feet touched the ground and he was able to walk his way over to the dark-haired teen, flat-footed as he grabbed each bar.

"You can't touch the ground?" he poked fun at the acrobat, and then literally poked at what of his stomach had been revealed by his shirt coming up.

Dick's eyes narrowed threateningly and he pulled himself on top of the bars. "Neither will you after I handcuff you up here."

They played around on the playground for a while longer, but eventually, the inevitable growl of Wally's stomach drew them back to the car, and then to a McDonald's. They ate their burgers on the kid themed burger tables and tried very hard to sneak into the in-restaurant play place. A worker stopped them before Dick could so much as scale halfway up the slide, but it was still all in good fun, and they laughed the whole way back out into the car.

"Where now?" Dick asked, throwing on his seat belt.

Wally took a long drink of his Dr. Pepper and then started the car up, grinning over at the dark-haired teen.

"I was thinking we go see a movie. You opposed?"

Dick found himself with a grin, biting the very corner of his lip. He leaned back in his seat and gave a little shrug, although he was very clearly not opposed.

"Get us there and I'll think about it, Walls."

They found themselves at one of the more rundown movie theaters on the edge of town. If they weren't excited enough about having the time to actually sit down and watch a movie for once, having an entire viewing room to themselves did it. Two tickets to _Unfriended_ , an unnecessarily large bin of popcorn, and fifteen minutes of previews to run up and down the aisles and hide under the screen was plenty enough to amp the two up.

When it started, they settled in the middle of theater all by themselves and kicked back with their feet on top of the seats in front of them, lifting the arm bar between them.

What should've been a trashy movie drew some genuine jumps out of them, and laughs, and sometimes they sought each other out in a moment suspense. They found themselves holding on even after the moment had passed, but neither really seemed to mind, especially in the darkness of the room.

They left ultimately pleased, both vowing to avoid Skype for the next few days. As they walked past the food counter, Wally pointed out a blender along the back and dared Dick to stick his hand in it. He very nearly got punched for saying it, but he managed to avoid Dick's fist with a laugh and outran him to the car. While he was unlocking it, a crack of thunder shot through the air around them loud enough that Wally very nearly thought that the sky had split in half.

"She's coming for you, dude," Dick laughed, and he wiggled his fingers in a menacing fashion. "That's what you get for laughing!"

Using his super speed, Wally got in the car and locked the acrobat out with a grin that stretched ear-to-ear. Dick didn't seem to find it as funny, especially when the thunder ripped the sky in half again, and the redhead quickly found enough pity in the depths of his heart to unlock the door.

Once they were both in the car, Wally pulled out of the parking lot and started driving aimlessly again. They cruised through the busy city streets as the skies muddied with the brewing storm, talking about flaws they saw in the movie and what they would've done in the same situation. Somewhere between the billboard of the man very enthusiastically enjoying a steak and the pawn shop that used to be a nice little ice cream shop, rain started coming down in sheets, and Wally found it within himself to flip the sky off.

"I thought you liked rain," Dick frowned slightly, resting the back of his hand against the window so he could feel the rain pounding against the glass.

Wally gripped the steering wheel a little tighter, and he shrugged loosely. "I _do_ , just... not today, man."

"Rain's pretty normal, Walls," the acrobat pointed out with a breathy laugh.

Looking across the car and seeing how happy his friend still was, maybe happier now, Wally found himself with a sudden crooked smile.

"I guess you're right. Want to maybe-?" whatever the redhead had been about to offer was lost in the shrill alarm that went off in both of their com. links.

The alarm was disguised to sound similar to an alarm clock on their phone, the sound personalized for each of them, and it meant that the team was needed at the cave immediately, if not sooner. It halted after a few seconds, but neither of them were able to pretend that they hadn't heard it. They both made a very similar miserable noise very nearly in sync.

"I wasn't done," Wally murmured brokenly, hands tightening into fists. "I still had stuff planned. I was going to give you a normal day."

Dick didn't say anything, but he looked like he was contemplating throwing his com. link out the window and asking Wally to back over it a few times. His expression broke Wally's heart, and made him bite a little harder into his lip than he wanted to.

"I'm really sorry, Dick. I'll make it up to you," he promised quietly.

"Park behind the bookstore," Dick said suddenly.

Wally raised an eyebrow, but he nodded, turning on his blinker.

"There's a ZETA down the block," Dick explained, and Wally sighed.

He pulled into the parking lot behind the little brick building and he turned the car off. Neither of them made a move towards getting out. If anything, they seemed to be putting it off even more now that they were this close. They listened to the rain beat on the windshield and watched the storm with eyes far too tired to belong to kids their age. Eventually, Dick set a hand on Wally's arm and they looked at each other, exchanging a similar nod.

They got out of the car and Wally locked it, tucking his keys safely into his pocket. The rain was pouring down with some unnamed vengeance now, but it only seemed to slow their speed.

"What else did you have planned, then?" Dick asked over the sound of the storm.

He pushed back his hair as the rain loosened his bangs, but his attention wasn't on the storm now. His blue eyes were on the redhead beside him, and they still managed to retain some fondness, even beneath the buckets of rain coming down on them.

Wally gave a shy little laugh and rubbed his neck, looking away for a moment. "Dinner, actually. We were going to go to that Museum over in Geneva, and then I was going to get us a reservation for that new Italian place that you said you wanted to try."

When Dick didn't say anything, Wally glanced over at him and was surprised to see the shyness in his friend's grin. The acrobat was rubbing his opposite elbow and when he noticed Wally's surprise, he leaned his head in towards his arm with a little laugh.

"This was probably... the most fun I've had in a while," Dick admitted, his head resting lightly on his friend's arm, watching the sidewalk below them. "Almost felt like... well... a normal... _date_."

He gave a shyer laugh as he lifted his head and put his arms back at his side. A quick glance and his stomach turned itself over at the sudden blush the redhead had seemed to pick up. Biting the side of his grin, Dick stopped in place, knowing Wally would stop, too. The ZETA was around the corner, and he had no desire to pass through it, yet. The rain poured down, and he welcomed it.

"I wish _this_ could be normal," Dick said wistfully as Wally stopped, too.

The redhead turned to face him quickly, and there was a sudden light behind his eyes that turned Dick's stomach once more. His pale freckled hand sought out one of Dick's and he squeezed tightly, trying to combat the sudden shake he had picked up. The acrobat's heart seemed to forget how to beat.

"It... _could_ be," Wally said quietly, holding his eyes.

Dick raised an eyebrow, and maybe he was shaking a little, too.

"I like you, Dick," Wally suddenly blurted out. "A lot. Like, _a lot_ a lot. And today... just... seeing you this happy... I... I want to _always_ see you this happy. I know we can't have... normal lives, but... we don't need to. Just... having you here with me... it's all the normal I'll ever really need, and I think-"

He stopped himself when he found that he was shaking too hard to speak clearly, and he looked down at their joined hands and squeezed a little tighter. Dick struggled to breathe.

"Are you...?" the acrobat tried to ask, but he was too dumbstruck to get any words out.

"Will you be my boyfriend?" Wally asked as he found the breath.

He lifted his eyes to meet Dick's, shakier now than he had been before. Dick seemed almost paralyzed at the question, his lips parted in shock. Wally's heart plummeted to his feet and he pulled his hand back, nearly vibrating with how hard he shook. His face shone a bright red and he all at once seemed very flustered, bringing his hand to the back of his neck and nervously rubbing it.

"I-I mean- I," he lesser so spoke than got out the odd sound, "I just, if y-you-"

In one solid motion, Dick grabbed onto the front of Wally's jacket and pulled him down towards him, meeting him halfway on his tiptoes to kiss him. The rain made it hard to breathe and being lightheaded and on your tiptoes wasn't all that good for balance, but Wally was quick to throw an arm around him, and the rain suddenly felt like sunshine.

They kissed once, and then twice, and then they both lost track as each one was separated only by a tiny gasp for air so they wouldn't drown. They only parted when Dick laughed, and even then, their foreheads stayed together, the rain coming down even harder on them.

"I'd love that," he gasped, still out of breath, fingers still tight in the front of Wally's jacket. "I- you, I mean. The-... I'll be your boyfriend."

A laugh tumbled out after the word, and then they both broke out into a bout of laughter, clinging to each other in the pouring rain. Eventually, they made their way to ZETA, and then to the Cave, but they took their time in doing so.

Maybe they never became normal- still nursing broken ribs and taking cover from bullets on a weekly basis, but they became as normal as they ever really needed to be, and that was enough.

* * *

 **-F.J. III**


End file.
